A versatile pianist and arranger, Dick Katz has been responsible for many stimulating and memorable recordings through the years. He studied at the Peabody Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, and Juilliard, in addition to taking piano lessons from Teddy Wilson. In the 1950s, he picked up important experience as a member of the house rhythm section of the Café Bohemia, with the groups of Ben Webster and Kenny Dorham, the Oscar Pettiford big band, and later with Carmen McRae. Katz was part of the popular J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding Quintet (1954-1955) and Orchestra USA and participated on Benny Carter's classic Further Definitions album. In the 1990s, Dick Katz worked both as a pianist and an arranger with the American Jazz Orchestra and Loren Schoenberg's big band.